Anniversary Present
by MistyGou
Summary: It's Krillin and Juuhachigou's first wedding anniversary. What better way to celebrate than a dragonball hunt?


"Only one more to go!" Krillin exclaimed.   
"Please, Krillin, you sound as if it were a trophy."   
"18, this was your idea. You thought up the idea to collect all the Dragonballs for our 1st Wedding Anniversary." Krillin said, more than a little exasperated.   
"Well, you always say you like travelling. And it reminds you of your days as a youth, correct?" 18 answered, too aloofly for Krillin's feelings to be spared by the remark.   
"Yeah, I know. And I guess it was a thoughtful idea..."he trailed off.   
The hurt in his voice wasn't masked very well. He had thought, for awhile, it was a romantic getaway 18 had led him away to. Soon it had became apparent (after the 2nd Dragonball) that collecting the balls really was the point of the trip they were on. Krillin then thought 18 had wished to ask for future years of happiness or some pleasant suprise. But when he had brought up the, "so what do you want to wish for" conversation, she swiftly changed the subject.   
Could 18 be that inconsiderate of the love they shared? No, he tried to convince himself for the 1000 time. Though brief and few in number, Krillin had caught 18 glancing softly at him on more than one occasion. That always led him to believe there was more human emotion than android logic behind that youthful exterior. But the romantic glow in her eyes was fleeting; vanishing before Krillin could ever memorize it....before his mind could keep the memory safe in his heart. That's the way it always was. He knew letting go of the past was hard for her, it would be impossible to forget such things if the person did not want to truly let it go.   
But 18 had every reason in the world to become a sensitive, loving, compassionate, person. So many times he had wondered about Vejiita and Bulma and compared the two. He knew from the way Bulma talked of Vejiita sometimes, that there was a softer side to the sayjin warrior. One that he would never let anyone else see or hear, but that was undeniably there. It was not the same with 18 he had sadly come to realize. "If you don't hurry, Krillin, it will be another week before you get the last Dragonball." She was taunting him. Krillin knew she was not devoid of emotion. She knew sarcasm, after all.   
18 and Krillin flew steadily and quickly over the rolling hills. The country was so beautiful, Krillin thought. Green and purple and white, a deer here, a goat there: he was about to stop and ask if she would like to take a short walk in the field of lilies below... .....but 18 must have thought the pace was too slow. She kicked into over drive, the little ex-monk barely keeping pace, with the ex-android. Soon they came to the place, the Dragon radar they borrowed from Bulma, recorded the Dragonball to be. (Vejiita had smirked and laughed...Bulma saying 18 was taking Krillin to a romantic spa, Vejiita commenting she was probably merely bored with him and decided to kill him in the wilderness)   
"Oh wow look at that!" Krillin yelled, choking on an unfortunate bug.   
"Hmm....what would a Dragonball be doing at a spa..?"mused 18.   
Spitting and choking, Krillin tried to clear the water from his eyes to get a good look at the resort below. It was a gorgeous retreat. Palm trees, crystal blue stream nearby, white wicker lawn furniture, and tropical flowers; all the colors of the rainbow. Past the above ground pools and tall balconies was a beach of white sand and a magnificent landscape of rocky cliffs jetting along the crashing ocean tide. Krillin was gasping in amazement, and forgot to keep flying.   
18 paused and looked back between the scene and her husband, blinking in confusion.   
"Should I blow it up?" she asked in all seriousness.   
"whu..wha...no..No! Blow it up??!?! It's ideal! Why would you want to do that?!"   
"It's in the way of our final objective. We can search the rubble."   
A bead of sweat flowed freely down Krillin's brow. All he could do was say, no no no no no......   
Once they had successfully landed, and did the civilized task of registering and obtained a room, Krillin reactivated the Radar to get that last ball. Walking the grounds, he could only glance left and right, enjoying the scenery and wishing that 18 would look around her as well. Perhaps it would trigger some human recognition of beauty and get her to look anywhere but straight ahead!   
Eventually, the search led them to the edge of a pretty canopy of trees nearby. But by now it was growing dark and a storm seemed to be on the way. Krillin knew that would mean a night of hanging out in the resort lounge, by himself and lonely though there would be plenty of people around. 18 would retire to their room, wanting nothing more than time to listen to music and think.   
"There,"she said, startling him from his thought. Ahead of them was a deep part of the stream, almost a small pond. Krillin could see small fish below, golden, but their reflection was dull and gray because of the ensuing darkness. It was only 8:00 p.m. but already dark and the wind was picking up. 18 used her ki to raise the Dragonball toward them. Krillin smiled in spite of it all, but never realized 18 carried the bag containing the other Dragonballs in front of her. She started off toward the beach, ignoring the approaching storm.   
"Krillin, would you go to the bar and get us a couple drinks?" she asked.   
"But 18, there's a storm coming..." Krillin was cut off by her insistent glare."Fine."   
18 walked off to the beach, and Krillin wondered why she'd picked their anniversary to get so stubborn.   
As he approached the bar, there was a commotion behind him.   
"Dragon..AAAHHH!"People screamed. "Huh?"   
Then a bellow and a flash. Krillin dropped the drinks, and ran to the beach. 18 was standing there looking satisfied. Already, the Dragonballs were miles away in the sky. "What, what..did you do?" he stuttered.   
18 just turned and smiled. A warm smile. It was the prettiest smile Krillin had ever seen. And it melted his heart right there. Then the clouds parted and the sky brightened, brightened enough to reveal a gorgeous sunset. The tide became like a song...wait, no there was soft music, but where was it coming from?, he wondered. A chair, big enough for two was sitting on the other side of a series of rocks, obscuring the potential couple from view. And beside it was a pitcher of lemonade and a bowl of strawberries! The warm breeze was returning, bringing with it the subtle, salty scents of the ocean. Krillin was stunned.   
"What did you wish for?" he asked in disbelief of the whole scene, and rubbed his eyes.   
"I wanted the most romantic evening ever."she quietly replied.   
Krillin couldn't believe his ears. A phrase so sweet coming from 18? She hadn't changed herself, the wish was for the evening. This had been inside of her all along.   
"How long have you......"  
"Been planning this? I actually found that Dragonball long before this Dragonball hunt. I planted it in that pond here at this resort." she smiled coyly.   
"18, you never cease to amaze me!" he yelled and picked her up, swinging her around. Then they went hand in hand to watch the setting sun, all the while, Krillin desperately wishing for the Dragonballs back again so that this night would never end.   
The End  
  
  
  



End file.
